Mango butter, cosmetic use

What

Soothing, healing, antiseptic and nourishing, ideal as a lip balm, but also to treat cracked hands and feet, able to protect from UV rays, rich in antioxidants.

How

Mango butter is extracted from the fruit of wild mango, Mangifera sylvatica, a plant of the Anacardiaceae family. This plant based butter can be used without processing and its demand is increasing as a valid alternative to cocoa butter, a highly exploited ingredient especially for lip balms. The problem with cocoa butter is that its production is really under pressure since the availability isn’t able to satisfy anymore the growing needs. Aging of plants, crop problems and diseases are some causes of this situation with a consequent fluctuation of the price of the cocoa butter. For this reason, mango butter seems a really interesting product because it contains palmitic, stearic and oleic acids, that represent the majority of the fatty acids of the human epidermis, in a similar quantity of cocoa butter. Mango butter contains also a higher amount than cocoa butter of SOS or 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol, that is a triglyceride formed by stearic acid and oleic acid and considered able to counteract dry skin (Akhter et al, Sci Rep, Aug 2016). Mango butter, thanks to these characteristics, is considered a nourishing, soothing, healing and antiseptic ingredient for lips but also for cracked skin, dry skin or with wounds, such as the skin of elbows or heels. A scientific research has demonstrated that a cream prepared with mango butter was able to repair completely wounds and cracked skin by restoring the protective skin barrier and leaving a soft and velvety skin (S. D. Mandawgade et al, Indian J Pharm Sci., Jul-Aug 2008). Mango butter is solid at room temperature and its melting point is between 32 and 36°C thus making mango butter an excellent ingredient for lip balms, hand or foot cream since it melts in contact with skin. This butter is also a source of phenols, such as quercetin, caffeic acid and mangiferin, that are antioxidant substances able to preserve the butter from becoming rancid but helpful also to counteract tissue aging and the damages caused by UV rays once the product has been applied (Nadeem et al, J Food Sci Technol, May 2016 – Ochocka et al, PloS One, Jul 2017). It is not thermolabile and is non comedogenic. For what concerns the uses, you can include the mango butter in the formulations of DIY creams or, more easily, you can use it alone by massaging a small quantity on the skin such as lips, heels, hands or elbows. In alternative, you can exploit the nourishing and protective properties of mango butter to treat dry, brittle hair and with split ends. Apply on damp hair the mango butter, spread it on the lengths and ends. Cover with a plastic wrap and leave it on for 20 minutes, then rinse with your shampoo.

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